Talking Special Teams

Edition #171

🌟 Good morning!

Every morning I like to take a quick look at what’s being said about the Jets, for the purpose of this newsletter but also for my own interest. What’s become clear is that the positivity that we feel as an organization and as a fanbase is not shared by the national media or other fanbases, I guess the proof is in the pudding* and how we perform in 2022, if we want respect we’re going to need to earn it.

* Apparently that expression is an old one from the 1600s, because it was difficult to judge the quality of the pudding or if it was cooked properly just by looking at it, it was only once you’d started eating it, hence the proof was in actually eating the pudding (which in this sense is an old English savory dish like a meat pie). You can never say you don’t learn anything from TJW.

⛰️ PFF ranked the best offensive lineman from the 2021 season in relation to pressure rate allowed, so basically, the best pass-protecting lineman. Only one Jet made the list with George Fant and his 3.20% came in 6th among all offensive tackles in the NFL. Tristan Wirfs came top of the tackle list with a pressure rate of 1.83%, Joe Thuney of the Chiefs topped the guards with a 2.13% rate and Rodney Hudson came out on top of the centers with a ridiculous 0.88% rate, that’s the 5th year in a row Hudson has topped that group.

1️⃣0️⃣ ESPNs’ top 10 series is back ahead of the 2022 season and they’re starting with edge rushers. They surveyed more than 50 league executives, coaches, scouts, and players to come up with this list and unfortunately, no Jets received a single vote. It seems as though Carl Lawson is going to have to remind people just how good he is this season. The Steelers T.J Watt came out on top, followed by the Browns’ Myles Garrett and Nick Bosa of the 49ers. In terms of AFC East representation, the only player to appear was Von Miller of the Bills, who was 6th overall.

🏈 Every year Rick Gosselin of Sports Illustrated releases his special teams’ rankings. They’re practically the gospel when it comes to all things special teams. The league’s 32 teams are ranked in 22 kicking-game categories and assigned points according to their standing – one for best, 32 for worst…so the lower the score the better your special team performance.

After seeing his unit go from being rated 1st in 2018, to 8th in 2019 and then 26th in both 2019 and 2020, Brant Boyer returned to form in 2021, with the Jets climbing 13 places all the way up to 13th overall.

If you really stop and think about it, that’s an incredible achievement considering the circumstances. The Jets made their way through three kickers in 2021 in Matt Ammendola, Alex Kessman, and Eddy Pineiro as well as two punters in Braden Mann and Thomas Morstead. They also had a ton of youth to work with guys like Hamsah Nasirildeen (224 snaps), Michael Carter II (125 snaps), Kenny Yeboah (114), and Jason Pinnock (104 snaps) seeing considerable time.

We’ll talk about every aspect of special teams today, but it’s placing in the top 15 while using three different kickers that impresses me the most. Special teams coordinator Brant Boyer has been with the Jets since 2016 and he was proud of what he saw from his young team in 2021:

"They battled and battled, and they didn't blink when all this stuff was going on," Boyer said. "It's hard as hell, especially in your rookie year, your body is hurting all the time, mentally you're worn out, and to have me just getting after you at times. I think this group bought in and did a great job.

Kicking

Matt Ammendola began the year as the starting kicker but his inability to kick from distance ultimately cost him his job. He was a perfect 11/11 on kicks of 39 yards or less, but only connected on 2/8 kicks of 40 or more yards. In the NFL you have to consistently be able to make kicks under 50 yards and show the ability to make kicks of 50+ yards. Ammendola was 0-3 on kicks of over 50 yards which plummeted his overall field goal percentage to 68.4%, you’re not keeping your job in the NFL with a field goal percentage of under 70%. Of all the kickers in the NFL who attempted at least 15 field goals last season, Ammendola (19) was the only player to hit below 70%.

Alex Kessman got an opportunity to stake his claim to the starting role, but the former Pittsburgh Panthers kicker failed to convert either of his extra-point attempts and the Jets decided to not try him on any field goals, his Jets career lasted one game and two missed extra points.

Finally, the Jets settled on Eddy Pineiro who had been looking for work after being released by Washington in early September. On December the 6th the Jets came calling and unlike Kessman, Pineiro really took his chance. He was a perfect 8/8 on the season including 4/4 on kicks of 40 yards or longer, he also hit 9/10 on extra points and will have the opportunity to compete for the starting role during training camp.

His success isn’t that surprising considering he’s a career 86.1% kicker having played with Oakland and Chicago before bouncing around with the Colts and Commanders. There is tape of him at the Kornblue kicking academy making field goals of 60+ yards, so we know he has the leg, even if his technique doesn’t look the most aesthetically pleasing.

Eddy will need to win the job with the Jets bringing in competition in the form of Greg Zuerlein, the 34-year-old veteran who has a career 82.2% success rate based on 321 field goals attempted. He’s also coming off a year in Dallas where he was above that career rate hitting 82.9% of field goals but having missed 6 extra points. It’s certainly a camp battle to watch.

Punting

When Braden Mann went down with an injury after his very first punt against Carolina in week one, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was going to be one of those years, but after Matt Ammendola filled in temporarily (and arguably did a better job punting than actually kicking field goals) the Jets brought in longtime veteran Thomas Morestead, formally on the New Orleans Saints.

Morestead ended up getting cut by the Jets to make room for Braden Mann’s return, but he also ended up being graded as the 6th best punter in football last season. In many ways, Morestead was the better punter, but with Mann being a 6th-round draft pick in 2020 and only 24 years of age and Morestead 12 years his senior at 36, choosing Mann seemed the logical choice.

Here’s a comparison between the two in relation to some key statistics. As you can see Mann didn’t average as much as Morestead and his fair catch percentage was significantly lower, but he did outperform him in terms of dropping kicks inside the 20, limiting returns, and a marginally better hangtime too. The issue for Mann is consistency, he’ll boom a kick and then he’ll shank a kick.

Consistency comes with experience, believe it or not, Mann was better in many statistical categories in 2021 as opposed to 2020. I think his performance in 2020 was largely overrated because of the type of football we were seeing on a snap-to-snap basis.

As of today the 6th of July, the Jets have not brought in any punters to challenge Mann for the starting role during camp. Personally, I think we’ll see a punter brought in at some point if only to push Mann to be better. I’m not 100% convinced that Braden is the right man for the job but then I’m not making the roster decisions for the Jets. The issue may be that there isn’t a lot of talent out there, Dustin Colquitt showed last year that at age 40 he’s pretty much done, and then you have names like Micheal Palardy, Hunter Niswander, and Ty Long…it may be the Jets want competition for Mann, they just can’t find it.

Return Game

Braxton Berrios showed his true value to this team as a receiver, but also as a returner. PFF rated him the #1 kickoff returner in football and his 30.4 yards per average return led all players in the NFL (minimum 20 returns) last season. Only 8 players in the NFL returned a kick for a touchdown last season and Berrios was one of those guys, he also had 0 muffs on 43 returns in the kickoff and punt game.

You can expect more of the same this year and we may see a couple of other players given an opportunity to show their skills as well. But Berrios is the man who’s proven to be effective and his 13.4 yards per return in the punt game were ranked 3rd last season, so the old saying of if it’s not broke then don’t fix it rings true here.

Berrio’s 102-yard return for a touchdown against Jacksonville was the joint longest return of the season and there is something to be said for the balance he brings as a returner, the reliability to not make mistakes, and the ability to break a long one. We’re lucky to have Braxton and his contract this season is easily digestible for the Jets.

Obviously, you can’t mention the return game without giving credit to the blockers in front, you don’t average the highest mark in the league without some outstanding players in front of you and the Jets blocking was outstanding last season. I know it doesn’t get attention, but some of the lesser-known guys like Nick Bawden put some great blocks on tape.

Coverage

The Jets coverage was a little tale of two tapes. On one hand, the kickoff coverage was outstanding, the Jets led the league by allowing 17.8 yards per return and didn’t allow a touchdown all season. On the other hand, the Jets were one of only 5 teams to allow 10+ yards on average per punt return.

Just like on defense the Jets can do more to shift momentum, the last time the Jets blocked a punt was against the Rams back in 2020 and they also failed to block a field goal last season as well.

Del'Shawn Phillips was by far the best coverage man for the Jets earning a 90.5 PFF grade, which was a top 10 number amongst all coverage players in the NFL. The other standout performers on special teams were Kenny Yeboah (86.7 grade), Trevon Wesco (79.9 grade), Hamsah Nasirildeen (77.5 grade) Sharrod Neasman (75.5 grade), and Justin Hardee (74.5). All of those guys played at least 100 special team snaps and still graded out well.

The one interesting name here is Justin Hardee, the former Saint who was brought in for his special teams’ ability and his leadership alone is worth noting. Hardee led the team with 10 special teams tackles, 5 more than the next man Del'Shawn Phillips, but he also led the lead with 5 penalties conceded, he also led the team with 5 missed tackles. With the talent on the roster this year and Hardee offering very little on the defensive side of the ball, it’ll be interesting to see if he even makes the 53-man roster.

Long Snapping

There isn’t a great deal of information available for long snappers in the NFL, in fact, you can find more information on college and high school long snappers than you can pro ones…which is strange.

Saying that PFF does provide grading for long snappers and unsurprisingly the Jets have a good one in Thomas Hennessy, who was traded to the Jets back in 2017 in exchange for safety Ronald Martin who hasn’t played in the NFL since that 2017 season. I’d say the Jets got the better end of that deal.

Only 8 long snappers had a higher grade than Hennessy last season, and last year represented Thomas’s lowest grade since 2017, which shows just how good he actually is. He’s had 13 tackles over the last 5 years and believe it or not that’s actually a good amount for a long snapper.

Hennessy was a long-snapper at Don Bosco, arguably the best high school football team in the country, they finished 35-0 during his time there. He’s now the Jets’ longest-tenured player with Marcus Maye moving on this off-season. Back in 2019 the Jets signed Hennessy to a new 4-year deal worth $4.4 million, signed through the 2023 season.

In 703 career snaps, he’s never been called for a penalty and I can’t remember a single bad snap that cost the Jets points. Since entering the league back in 2017, he also leads all long-snappers in tackles, he also has a fan in Brant Boyer:

“If he’s not the best [long snapper], he’s in the top three for sure,” Jets special teams coordinator Brand Boyer said. “Thomas has done a nice job, he’s always solid, always does the right things. He really does. ... With as many people as we’ve had in here, he’s done a fantastic job adjusting to how they want it and want the ball, whether it leans out, whether it leans in, whether it leans forward. He does a nice job of handling that and they [Hennessy and punter/holder Braden Mann] do a ton of extra reps that’s not ever seen in practice to get all that stuff corrected and so it’s just seamless.”